Connector for toy rod construction elements



Dec. 7, 1965 1.. w. SCHAPER 3,221,439

CONNECTOR FOR TOY ROD CONSTRUCTION ELEMENTS Filed April 27, 1962 3Sheets-Sheet 1 I INVENTOR LEONARD W. ScHAPEFe BY fla -yaw ATTORNEY Dec.7, 1965 L. w. SCHAPER CONNECTOR FOR TOY ROD CONSTRUCTION ELEMENTS FiledApril 27, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I I 1 I INVENTOR. LEONARD W. SCHFJPERHTTOENEY Dec. 7, 1965 L. w. scHAPER 3,221,439

- CONNECTOR FOR TOY ROD CONSTRUCTION ELEMENTS Filed April 27, 1962 3Sheets-Sheet 5 INVEN TOR.

LEONARD W SCHQPEI? United States Patent 3,221,439 CGNNECTGR FOR TOY RODCONSTRUCTION ELEMENTS Leonard W. Schaper, West Orange, N.J., assignor toOrange Products, Inc., Orange, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey FiledApr. 27, 1962, Ser. No. 190,668 3 Claims. (Cl. 46-29) My presentinvention relates to improvements in elements for toy buildingconstruction sets.

In such sets small rods, known in the trade as logs, having regularlyspaced, circumferential, grooves are assembled and held in assembledrelation by means of connectors of resilient material, such as anorganic thermoplastic composition, having a pair of complementary clawsprojecting from opposite ends in such manner that a pair of parallellogs may be snapped into each pair of claws and held in positiontherein. In this manner a series of logs may be assembled into selectedformations, such as an assembly in a single plane or in planes at anangle or in other geometric formations. Toy houses, bridges, vehiclesand many other articles may thus be constructed.

To increase the versatility of the set, openings may be provided in theconnectors between and transverse to the direction of the logs grippedby the claws. Such openings permit the mounting of rods to serve asaxles of an assembly forming a toy vehicle or as cross beams or forother purposes. As the connectors are generally cast or molded ofplastic material, the formation of a hole or passage transverse to theplane of the logs held by the connectors has heretofore required a corein the mold parts which after molding must be withdrawn from the moldedconnector in a direction transverse to the direction in which the moldparts are assembled, This greatly increased the cost and complexity ofthe molds and introduced difficulties in the molding of the connectors.

My present invention provides a connector of the above type having theequivalent of a hole transverse to the direction or plane of the logsgripped by the claws of the connector without the necessity of atransverse core.

In the connector of my invention, I provide three recesses extendinginto the connector between the pairs of claws alterately in oppositedirections and in side by side position and transverse to a planethrough the logs gripped by the connector. These recesses overlap sothat they form alternate off-set halves of a passage or hole through theconnector transverse to the plane of the logs. Preferably the inner endsof the recesses are rounded to a semi-cylindrical curvature on a commonaxis so that the recesses define a cylindrical passage formed ofsemi-cylindrical ofi-set halves on a common axis. Consequently a shaftor cylindrical rod inserted through this passage is held virtually in acylindrical hole.

This connector may be molded in a pair of complementary mold halves, onehalf having a mold cavity to mold an upper half of both pairs of clawsand the two outer recesses and the other half having a complementarycavity to mold the other half of the pairs of claws and the intermediatecavity. When the mold is closed, the claws and recesses are formed inthe plastic material as described above and the mold halves may beopened in the direction of the recesses.

The invention is illustrated, by way of example, in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a connector embodying my invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the connector taken from the oppositeside and showing a pin held in the complementary recesses;

FIG. 3 is a plan view, on a smaller scale, of the con- 3,221,439Patented Dec. 7, 1965 nector looking down on the uppermost side asviewed in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan view, similar to that of FIG. 3 but taken from theopposite side from that of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the connector taken from the right of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a section of the connector taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is an end view of the connector;

FIG. 8 is a section on the connector taken on line 88 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a plan view, inverted, of an upper die for molding theconnector;

FIG. 10 is a plan of the lower die of a mold for molding the connector;

FIG. 11 is a side elevation of a toy assembly using the connector;

FIG. 12 is a side view of a log useful with the connector of myinvention;

FIG. 13 is an end view of the log; and

FIGS. 14 and 15 are sections on lines 14-14 and 15-415 of FIG. 12.

In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, the connector consists ofan integral mass 12 of molded plastic having a pair of claws 13 and 14projecting outwardly at one end and a similar pair of claws 15 and 16projecting in the opposite direction at the other end. In the plan viewshown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the claws appear in the form of a broken circlehaving an opening 17 for the insertion of a toy log. In the particularform shown the inner surfaces of the claws are rounded as shown by thereference number 18 to engage annular grooves in the log. When used foran assembly a log is pressed through the opening 17, the claws springingapart to permit the log to pass through the opening 17 and thenspringing inwardly to grip the log. If the log has annual grooves theclaws grip it to prevent longitudinal displacement.

To provide an opening between the two pairs of logs extendingtransversely of the plane of the logs a central depression 19 is formedin the connector between the two pairs of claws extending transverselyto the plane of the logs and extending past the mid point of theconnector and a pair of depressions 20 and 21 are formed, one on eachside of the depression 19, from the opposite side of the connector andextending past the mid point of the connector. The depression 19intersects the side depressions 2t) and 21 so as to form a passage wherethe side depressions pass or overlap the inner depression therebyforming a passage from one side of the connector to the other. In theembodiment of the invention shown in the drawing the inner ends of thedepressions are of cylindricurvature each inner end being hemisphericaland the axis of these surfaces is common to all depressions and formvirtually a cylindrical passage or opening through the connector.

As shown in FIG. 2, a pin or cylindrical rod 22 may be passed throughthe cylindrical passage. The rod may have a tight fit in the passageaided by the resiliency of the material of the connector and be heldabout one half of its circumference by the inner ends of the depressions2t) and 21 and about the other half by the depression 19. Insertion ofthe rod or pin is facilitated as an end of the pin or rod may be laid inthe inner end of one of the side depressions to align it with theopening and then displaced through the opening formed by the otherdepressions.

The connector is capable of being molded by a pair of mold parts, forexample an upper mold part and a lower mold part. These mold parts aloneform the claws and the transverse opening of the connector. An exampleof such mold parts is shown in FIGS. 9 and ll) of the drawings, FIG. 9showing an upper part and FIG. 10 a lower part. Thus in FIG. 9 a moldpart 23 having a flat face has formed therein a projection 24 from themold face of semi-cylindrical shape on an axis in the mold face. Acavity is formed in the mold half comprising end portions 25 and 26 onopposite sides of the projection 24 of a shape complementary to one halfof the pairs of claws of the connector and symmetrical to the axis ofthe projection. These end portions of the cavity are connected onopposite sides of the projection by mid spaces 27 and 28.

A complementary mold part 29 having a flat face and a pair ofprojections 30 and 31 extending therefrom and of semi-cylindrical formon an axis in the face of the mold half. The inner opposed faces ofthese projections are spaced a distance equal to the axial width of theprojection 24 of the upper mold half. The radius of the cylindricalsurface of these projections is equal to the radius of thesemi-cylindrical surface of the projection 24. A cavity is formed in thelower mold half comprising end portions 32 and 33 of claw shape andcomplementary to the end portions 25 and 26 of the upper mold part.These end portions of the cavity are joined by a connecting space 34between the projections 30 and 31. The depth of the connecting spaces ofthe cavity is greater than the radius of the cylindrical surfaces of theprojections 24, 30 and 31 to provide bridging portions 35, 36 and 27,respectively, between the pairs of claws of the connector as shown inFIGS. 1 and 2.

Upon molding a connector the two mold parts may be parted leaving theconnector free for removal. Thus the connector may be molded in a moldof simple construction.

The connector of the invention, in use, connects individual logs, suchas log 38 .shown in FIGS. 12-15, which are formed with alternatingcircumferential grooves 45 and projections 46. The cross-sections of thelog at the grooves 45 are circular as shown in FIG. 14 to be received inthe recesses 19-21 formed in the connectors. The cross-section of thelog between the grooves is cruci-form as shown in FIGS. 13 and 15, theprojections 46 forming the arms of a cross. The projections are alignedlongitudinally of the log so that longitudinal discontinuous grooves 47are formed.

If a log is dropped or laid on a sloping surface the longitudinalgrooves 47 prevent rolling of the logs as these grooves act as flat,non-circular, surfaces of rest for the logs. The material required forthe logs is reduced by the spaces of the grooves from that required fora corrugated surfaces in which the cross-section of the portions betweenthe recesses 45 is circular and the cost of material is reducedcorrespondingly. The grooves also provide a larger surface and a shorterpath for the transfer of heat from the plastic during molding and permitthe molding time to be reduced.

An example of the use of the connectors and logs is shown in FIG. 11. Inthe assembly shown in this figure,

three logs 38, 39 and 40 are connected in a single plane by connectors41, two logs being connected at their ends by a pair of connectors. Aparallel group may be similarly connected. The logs have successiveannular grooves which the claws of the connectors engage. A pin 42 ispassed through the opening formed by the recesses 19, 20 and 2-1 of eachconnector and a wheel 43 mounted on each pin to form a toy vehicle. Apair of assemblies in parallel planes may be connected in spacedrelation by transverse logs, the ends of which are indicated by thereference numeral 44.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A connector for toy assemblies which comprises a molded elementhaving at opposite ends means including a pair of claws curved to graspand hold a pair of parallel toy logs and having between said pairs ofclaws a series of at least three contiguous recesses extendingalternately from opposite sides of said element in directions parallelto the logs grasped by said claws and having respective bottomsemi-cylindrical surfaces about a common central axis normal to a planecoincident with axes of said logs, said recesses together lbeing meansforming an unobstructed passage for receiving and holding a cylindricalrod extending normal to the said plane, the open sides of said recessesopposite to respective ones of said surfaces defining passage means topermit withdrawal of a forming die in a direction parallel to the logs.

2. The connector of claim 1 in which said molded element is formed of aresilient organic plastic material.

3. The connector of claim 1 in which said claws contract to a neckopening between the ends of said claws.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,130,378 3/1915Collis 287-49 1,174,558 3/1916 Friedel 46-27 1,589,827 6/ 1926 Wes-sel46-27 2,027,885 -1/ 193 6 Schwarzbaeh 4623 2,710,488 6/1955 Schaper 46282,737,755 3/ 1956 Schigas 4628 X 2,833,082 5/1958 Carson 46-23 2,841,9187/1958 Sylwan 4629 2,949,636 8/1960 Mastin 18-42 2,955,323 10/ 1960Rivenes 18-42 2,959,888 11/1960 Noble 46-28 FOREIGN PATENTS 759,52311/1933 France. 1,246,185 10/1960 France. 1,039,794 9/ 1958 Germany,

640,744 7/ 1950 Great Britain.

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

DELBERT B. LOWE, Examiner,

1. A CONNECTOR FOR TOY ASSEMBLIES WHICH COMPRISES A MOLDED ELEMENTHAVING AT OPPOSITE ENDS MEANS INCLUDING A PAIR OF CLAWS CURVED TO GRASPAND HOLD A PAIR OF PARALLEL TOY LOGS AND HAVING BETWEEN SAID PAIRS OFCLAWS A SERIES OF AT LEAST THREE CONTIGUOUS RECESSES EXTENDINGALTERNATELY FROM OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID ELEMENT IN DIRECTIONS PARALLELTO THE LOGS GRASPED BY SAID CLAWS AND HAVING RESPECTIVE BOTTOMSEMI-CYLINDRICAL SURFACES ABOUT A COMMON CENTRAL AXIS NORMAL TO A PLANECOINCIDENT WITH AXES OF SAID LOGS, SAID RECESSES TOGETHER BEING MEANSFORMING AN UNOBSTRUCTED PASSAGE FOR RECEIVING AND HOLDING A CYLINDRICALROD EXTENDING NORMAL TO THE SAID PLANE, THE OPEN SIDES OF SAID RECESSESOPPOSITE TO RESPECTIVE ONES OF SAID SURFACES DEFINING PASSAGES MEANS TOPERMIT WITHDRAWAL OF A FORMING DIE IN A DIRECTION PARALLEL TO THE LOGS.